I agree with Lisa… while your list can be helpful, puppymillers have learned to look very reputable making it much harder to look at the website to determine. The bottom line is, no matter if they sell one breed or more, they can be a puppymill. And there are certainly some very legit responsible breeders with 2 or even 4 breeds! My entry into dog breeding/showing was a woman who had English bulldogs, her daughter had aghans and setters. If they don't have pedigrees and health testing info on the web page, I'd run. If they have it and you check OFA and find they falsified, or only maybe the current or some of their dogs have testing.. run. The rest they can fake or pretend but generations of health clearances generally aren't part of a puppymill.
New puppy owner Questions
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Many breeders these days litter box train their pups, myself included. Hate using the pee pads or newspaper.... reason, you ask.... if you train pups to use these, anything on the floor that looks the same, they will pee on... they would not know the difference if the texture is the same.... love using a litter box....
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My last B came to me litter box trained, and it was so easy. I had a litter box set up for him when I brought him home and he went right to it and used it. No accidents in the house. To transition him, I took the litter box outside where I wanted him to go and he used it there. After a day or so, I took the litter box up and took him to the spot and gave him the "go potty" command, and he got it right away. My current B wasn't litter box trained and it was much harder with her.
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@lifewithava @tanza I checked with the breeder and she has a separate section where the puppies go potty, filled with a straw like material that you would normally see in a chicken coop.
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Hopefully you have checked out on www.offa.org for the Fanconi DNA test on the Sire/Dam of the litter? And as I have noted responsible breeders will test for PRA (another DNA test for night blindness), Hips, Thyroid, Eyes
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@tanza Yes I checked the site and the breeder did do the test for Fanconi (most dogs clear and a few carrier) and the Eyes (normal) but not the rest (hips, thyroid). I noticed the history for the dogs was available, some of the grandparents had all the tests done with thyroid being normal and hips being excellent. I also met all the dogs and they looked healthy and well socialized.
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@basenji_life said in New puppy owner Questions:
@tanza Yes I checked the site and the breeder did do the test for Fanconi (most dogs clear and a few carrier) and the Eyes (normal) but not the rest (hips, thyroid). I noticed the history for the dogs was available, some of the grandparents had all the tests done with thyroid being normal and hips being excellent. I also met all the dogs and they looked healthy and well socialized.
If you were an experienced breeder, then I'd say you could look at them and know if healthy. If you were an experienced basenji owner, you could judge socialization. You can't look at a dog and know for sure if healthy, and certainly if not experienced. As for hips, they can't , as someone suggested, just have a vet check a pup and tell you. PenHip can be done young, OFA recommends 6 mos for prelim. Without x-rays, no one can tell you if your dog's hips are okay. Hips aren't very high in the breed, but should still be checked.
I swore no dog ever in my bed and then that's where the first baby basenji and the next 2 ended up. I raised every other puppy in a crate next to the bed. So whatever fits you.
They tend to be not only destructive, but very creative. You'll learn to put your stuff away and secure the trash.
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@debradownsouth Thanks, I was already going to bring the pup to the vet to get checked + vaccines but now I'll make sure to get the hips tested as well.
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@basenji_life Sounds like you are well prepared and on the right track. Welcome to hell! Lol. Remember this, no matter how bad that puppy is and no matter what challenges you face as it gets older and tests you, never lose patience or give up. By the time it is time to say goodbye many years from now, I guarantee you will wish the time had not passed so quickly. Basenjis are smart and will teach you and give you way more love than you can ever repay. Savor every moment, it is worth it!
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@dagodingo Thank you!
I'm looking forward to the good AND the bad! Hehe :smiling_face_with_open_mouth_closed_eyes: -
@basenji_life said in New puppy owner Questions:
@dagodingo Thank you!
I'm looking forward to the good AND the bad! Hehe :smiling_face_with_open_mouth_closed_eyes:So brave!!!! It's not that the puppy will be bad, it's just that they'll be a puppy. And sometimes that means they will do exactly what you don't want them to. Sometimes a sense of humor is required. And some fencing. And a crate. LOL
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The vet can manipulate to see if something severe is wrong, but hips xrays need to wait til 6 mos (OFA) or (I think.. too tired to look) 4 mos.. oh heck I have to look..
"The PennHIP method can be reliably performed on a dog as young as 16 weeks old."
